Recovery
by Rae Logan
Summary: Sequel Follow Up to "Capgras". All it takes is for one thing to trigger all of it...


Okay... some people requested a sequel to "Capgras" as to how Mephiles recovers from what happened to him... so this is it :D

In this story... we find out how Mephiles got hurt, and how all that lead to "Capgras".

Enjoy

Oh, I should also note that this story is also inspired a bit by "Breathe No More" by Evanescence.

_I've been looking in the mirror for so long.  
That I've come to believe my soul's on the other side.  
All the little pieces falling, shatter.  
Shards of me,  
Too sharp to put back together.  
Too small to matter,  
But big enough to cut me into so many little pieces.  
If I try to touch her,  
And I bleed,  
I bleed,  
And I breathe,  
I breathe no more._

Great song... Look it up for the rest :D

* * *

"Does this remind you of anything?"

He stared at the yellow gem in Shadow's hand, waiting for something to click as he tugged at the plastic patient bracelet aimlessly.

…

…

…

He shook his head and sighed.

"… Nothing… It's kinda pretty though…"

"You had been trying to steal this so that you could beat me…"

"_Mephiles_ was trying to steal it…" He corrected wearily, shifting his leg a bit as he sat cross legged on the bed. "I'm not Mephiles… Mephiles died in the accident…"

"He's in there somewhere…" Shadow set the gem on the bedside table next to a stuffed bear and tapped him lightly forehead, earning a swat on the hand. "He's there… you just have to find him…"

"I don't _want_ to find him…" Mephiles said, shaking head and folding his arms across his chest, which had been covered by the gown he was wearing. "I don't want to be him… so he can just _stay_ gone!"

"Look… it was my fault this happened to you…" Shadow said, grabbing Mephiles' gloveless hand and setting the gem in it, hoping that maybe its magical property would spark something. "It was my fault you got hurt. It was my fault you lost most of your memory. And it was my fault you lost who you were… at least let me help you with this… I know what it's like to not know who you are…"

Mephiles narrowed his eyes dangerously, briefly clenching his hand tightly, and then flung the gem across the room, shattering a picture frame into thousands of shards, the gem unharmed to his mild amazement.

"Get. _OUT!_" He screamed. "_GET OUT OF HERE!_"

Shadow sighed and picked up the gem, and left the room hurriedly. The blue-green striped hedgehog was panting heavily, taking gulps of air to try to calm down.

It had been months since the accident that had claimed his memory and personality, leaving him without a past and recollections. He temporarily believed himself to be Shadow; believing Mephiles to have died on impact from the debris of the crumbling pillar that Mephiles had thrown Shadow into.

He could remember bits and pieces of the accident more clearly now, and knew that he had been badly injured, and that _he_ had been Mephiles.

…

That was all. He knew that he had been Mephiles, but he had no memories of being Mephiles, his abilities, his emotions, his thoughts…

To him, Mephiles was a stranger… someone he was not familiar with at all.

But he knew that Mephiles was a bad person… and he didn't want to be that.

So to him… Mephiles was dead. Gone. In oblivion.

Shadow and Rouge had been coming by nearly everyday, hoping to try to jog his memory with their own recollections, and bringing items that were either from the places he had been, or resembled something that reminded them of something he should have remembered, but didn't.

He was getting tired of this…

He wanted them to stop trying, because there just wasn't enough progress to be worth it. He still hardly recognized his reflection, and more than once, he was almost provoked into a frenzy when they tried to explain that it was him. To be on the safe side, the mirrors were removed from the walls and bathroom, for the most part on Mephiles' frantic requests.

He felt trapped…

He wanted to get out…

He sighed and slid off of the bed, taking a few steps to the window to peer out.

It was a beautiful looking day, the flowers of spring blooming in the flowerbeds, butterflies and birds of all colors and styles decorated such a beautiful sight.

He wanted out of this stupid room. He wanted to go outside, longing to take in the scent of the flowers and just sit there and think with what he had left to call his mind.

He saw that Shadow had forgotten to close his self-locking door in his haste to get out before Mephiles had a chance to throw a full blown temper tantrum again.

This gave him an idea.

Knowing full well that he might get in trouble for this, he slipped out of the room and into the empty hallway. He had seen a side door exit once before and he no doubt that it led to the outside.

Bingo!

Pressing his hands to the handle, he pushed it open slowly, in case there was an alarm that might be triggered.

Feeling his heart thump, he felt his bad mood lighten when the outside was just a steps length away.

"Mephiles!"

And then… his heart sank into his stomach with a splash…

A hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him away from the door, and he whimpered pitifully as the spring loaded closing mechanism pushed the door shut. His chance… gone… So close…

He felt like he could just break down and cry…

He looked at the person who had pulled him back and found that it had been Rouge.

"What are you doing out of your room?" She asked, almost as if she was worried that he had almost hurt himself. "You shouldn't be wandering around… what if you remembered something, and no one was around?"

"What good will _that_ do? I'm probably going to be locked up if my memories _do _come back!" He growled, jerking his hand free. "As for what I was doing, I just wanted to sit outside. I'm not even allowed to open my window! I've been kept here for months now! Is that so wrong?"

"Well… no… but, it's just that you need supervision while you're out of your room." She said, folding her ears back just a fraction. "You still have your fainting spells…"

"They're going away…" He countered. "Just let me go out…"

"It's not really up to me…"

"Then asked whoever is and get me out of here!" He was getting tired of this. It was just a simple request. Why was that so difficult? He felt like he was stable enough. "If just for a few _minutes_ even! That's all!" He was getting desperate, and she could tell from his begging.

Taking pity on him, she nodded and grabbed his wrist and pulled him carefully down the hall to the doctor in charge's office. She tapped on the small window of the door to catch his attention.

"Yes?"

Rouge went into a quick explanation of the situation, and about how much Mephiles wanted to go outside.

"Please?" He added desperately, going as far as to clasping his furry hands together, and trying to look as innocent as possible. "I can't remember the last time I was out on a day like this…"

The doctor gave in, deciding that this might be helpful in recovering the poor hedgehog's memories, and if it wasn't… then it just might help his day be a little bit better.

Rouge smiled a little when she saw the hedgehog's eyes light up, perhaps the happiest she had seen him.

He tugged at her arm, urging her to hurry up, he was really eager to get out! Her giggle only made him more excited.

He pushed the door open, squinting at the bright rays of the sun, the warmth of it washing over his pale face. If he could, he would be grinning broadly.

"Pretty, isn't it?" Rouge asked.

"It's _beautiful!_" He breathed, holding his arms out and spinning in a circle to try to take in everything at once. He tripped over his own feet however, and after a few seconds of flailing his arms, he toppled into Rouge's, blushing deeply from embarrassment.

"… S-sorry…"

"Aw, it happens…" She helped him to his feet. "So… I heard you got mad at Shadow?"

"Yes…" Mephiles said with a hint of hostility, taking notice in a bush of flowers with thorns. He was tempted breathe in their scent, having heard from eavesdropping on the talk of the nurses in the ward that these flowers were perhaps among the most fragrant and pleasing.

"Why?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you get mad at him?"

Mephiles had been so entranced in his thoughts that he had momentarily forgotten about even conversing with Rouge. In a few seconds, however, he gave his answer.

"Because he was trying too hard to bring back something that won't come back…"

"Do you mean your memory, or the real you?"

"Do not speak of that!" He said sharply, tearing his eyes from the thorny bush for a moment. "It's best to just keep it buried!"

"Like you were?" Rouge said, a sad look on her face.

"That wasn't me!" He said before he caught himself. He blinked and shook his head. "Look… can't you all just accept that this is who I am now? I can… and I don't want _that_ Mephiles to come back…"

"… It's just… well… I'm sure Shadow didn't mean for that to happen. It was just a terrible accident…" Rouge looked away, rubbing a hand to her arm. "He was worried that it might have killed you…"

"It just as well should have." Mephiles said without a hint of regretting having said that. "I'm sorry to disappoint you… but I am not Mephiles anymore, and I have no desire to bring that demon back… Why should he have cared anyway? He hates Mephiles…"

"Perhaps… but it was probably because of the unlikeliness of that happening. Shadow was shocked. He didn't think you could have been taken down like that…"

"Then his judgment was off…" Mephiles sat down on the grass near the thorny bush and pulled his knees up to his chest to wrap his arms around them, half rocking himself. "If Mephiles was a powerful as you've told me… then he should have gotten out without a scratch…"

Rouge thought back for a moment, replaying the event through her head. Mephiles had had only seconds to react, and he hesitated, his eyes locking with Shadow's for a split second, perhaps unintentionally keeping his eyes on his target despite the danger.

"I think… you hesitated because you didn't notice until it was too late for you to move. You were too busy tracking Shadow…"

"Then that just shows that Mephiles is a fool…" Mephiles folded his ears back. "It was his obsession with his revenge on Shadow that ended him…"

"Come on… what are you afraid of?" Rouge sat down next to him.

"What?"

"It's like you're afraid of what will happen if get your memories back…"

"I'm not afraid… I _know _what will happen…" Mephiles stood up and rubbed the back of his head. "Something bad… and I'll still be locked up…"

"You can't really be sure if that will happen or not…"

"Rouge… Mephiles was a bad person… he tricked people… and he wanted to kill Shadow and that other hedgehog…" Mephiles was leaning against the chain link fence, his fingers wrapped around the wires as he stared longingly at the world on the other side. "If you bring him back… I might not exist anymore…"

"But you _are_ Mephiles…"

"I mean that I might not remember any of this if you bring him back… and I might not remember this conversation… this friendship you and Shadow are building with me might just vanish…"

"You don't know if that will really happen…"

"Neither do you…" Mephiles closed his eyes. "He might just make me a monster again… and we'll be back where we were months ago…"

Suddenly, he inhaled sharply, tightening his grip on the fence as he started shaking.

"M-mephiles?"

"… G-get someone… a n-nurse or s-something…"

"Wha-?"

"_NOW!_" Mephiles barked before clutching his head and collapsing in a heap on the ground, curling up in a very tight and shaking ball.

…

…

_In a split second, Mephiles had swiped his crystal clawed hand at Shadow, who sidestepped just in time. _

"_You're not leaving with that Emerald, Mephiles!" _

"_I gave you a chance to join me, Shadow!" Mephiles growled, demonic eyes glaring dangerously at Shadow. "I gave you it more than once! It is _you_ how won't be leaving!"_

_He blinked and saw that Shadow was gone from sight. _

What!? Where did he go?!

_Letting his guard down for a just a mere second, Mephiles felt an incredible pain in his stomach when Shadow appeared before him and dug his right fist into his gut._

_Mephiles choked in pain, eyes widening as he quickly morphed into his Shadow-look-a-like form before collapsing to the ground with a weak moan, hands clasped to his belly as he cursed himself for not having the same physical strength as Shadow._

_Shadow watched him writhe on the ground for a moment, half hoping for him to get up again to continue their fight. In a few seconds, Shadow realized that he had caused injury to Mephiles, though he hadn't really thought that the demon hedgehog was even capable of it._

…

…

"… Mephiles..?" He could hear a voice faintly, unable to see clearly as the pain in his head caused blurring vision.

He felt a hand slip into his, which he responded by squeezing it very tightly. He didn't care whose it was… just as long as he had something tangible to focus on.

"… Hang in there… the doctors are on their way…"

He could feel his body get pulled close to another, the person cradling him gently as he felt hot tears streak down his face.

_A-are those mine? Wh-what's going on? Where am I? Am I still outside?_

His head throbbed painfully and he whispered weakly in his haze: "… I-I'm scared…"

…

…

_Unsure of what to do, Shadow knelt down next to Mephiles to see the severity of the attack. But Mephiles' persistency in completing his task got the better of him, and once Shadow drew near, he snapped and shoved Shadow with every bit of strength he could muster._

_Shadow felt his back hit the pillar behind him, Mephiles making it to his feet shakily, still winded and clutching a hand to his stomach as he wiped sweat off of his face, his eyes fixed on Shadow, who peeled off of the pillar and landed in a crouched position._

"… _That was a lucky shot…" Mephiles growled, his voice seething. "… Next time… I won't let my guard down so easily… I'll be ready for anything you throw at me… "_

_Shadow was about to say something, but his ear twitched at the sound of marble stone crumbling._

These structures are ancient… that hit is making it fall apart!_ Shadow realized, taking off to the side, Mephiles still watching him, apparently unaware of the danger. _Why isn't he moving?! Can't he see that thing's about to collapse!?

_Mephiles' fixed stare was finally broken when a small chunk of marble clattered to the ground, sand and dust stirring up as the floor started shaking._

_He turned his head slowly to stare at the pillar, his eyes growing twice their size in mere seconds as the pieces started to fall in larger chunks, his ears folding back to his head that they disappeared into his quills._

…

…

He felt himself shaking as he was held down firmly to the soft bed, occasionally panicking and trying frantically to pull free, only half certain about what was going on.

"Mephiles! Calm down! It's going to be okay!"

"IT'S GOING TO KILL HIM! IT'S GOING TO _KILL_ HIM!" Mephiles was bellowing, half stuck in his daydream as he shook his head from side to side, kicking his feet. "HE CAN'T GET OUT OF THE WAY FAST ENOUGH! IT'S GOING TO KILL HIM!"

"Someone put weight over his legs! He's flailing too much!"

"I'll do it!"

Mephiles felt someone put all their weight into keeping his body steady. He couldn't see who… but he could tell from the voice that it had been Shadow.

"Calm down, Mephiles! It's nothing more than a bad dream!"

No… it was more than that…

…

…

"MEPHILES! GET OUT OF THE WAY!!" _He heard one of his foes scream, most likely Rouge._

_Mephiles couldn't. He was both paralyzed with fright and still too winded to move fast enough._

_Closing his eyes, he stood his ground and focused his thoughts on creating a bubble-like shield around himself to try to halt the impact._

_The next thing he knew, the rubble had slammed into his shield, the weight of it making him strain to keep it up. _

_He looked up, and for three long seconds… he locked gazes with Shadow, who could see a trace of terror in his double's eyes._

_Then suddenly, Mephiles grunted and his shield fizzled out, the large piece falling on his leg, the sound of a bone breaking and a screech of agony punctuated the air._

"AHHHHHHK!"

_Shadow, Rouge and Omega, who had been on the side lines with Rouge, could only stare in horror as the rest of the debris fell and buried Mephiles under it's weight, his screams of pain getting louder and louder and louder to a shriek… _

_The last one fell…_

_And then…_

_Silence…_

…

…

Mephiles jolted awake with a harsh gasp, body shaking as if he had caught a bout of hypothermia.

To his increasing terror, he was sickened to find that he had to be strapped down, apparently for his own safety…

_Or their own…_ He thought grimly. _Perhaps they think I'm too dangerous… figures… I thought this would happen eventually…_

To his relief, however, he was pleased to find that Shadow and Rouge had fallen asleep in the room, so that was a good sign to him.

Unable to move much, he tried snapping his fingers to wake one of them up to ask what was going on.

His snapping woke up Shadow, who had been holding Rouge, and he gave his double a questioning stare before asking: "What happened?"

"I would ask you the same…" Shadow said, shifting his eyes to the ground. "It's been several hours… and you-"

"Not that… what happened after that last piece of rubble fell?"

Shadow's eyes widened for a moment, and then he let a shadow of a grin crawl on his face.

"You remember what happened to you, then?"

"Bits and pieces… but I need to know how you got me out of there…" Mephiles said, shifting under his restraints. "That… and if you'd be so kind as to telling me why I'm strapped down… I'd appreciate that, too…"

"We had to… you were thrashing around too much. The doctors weren't able to give you that sedative until we got you to stay still. Needle work is very risky…"

"I detest needles…" Mephiles growled. "But, really… what happened next?"

"I thought you didn't want to know…" Shadow raised an eyebrow. "You even threw a Chaos Emerald at me…"

"Was that what it was? Fascinating… But, please explain…"

Shadow sighed.

He was still trying to forget it himself.

…

…

"_Mephiles?" Shadow said slowly. He was expecting the double to ooze through the cracks, reforming in his true shape again, and just laugh, perhaps to mock Shadow for thinking that could have hurt him._

…

…

…

_Nothing…_

…

"MEPHILES!_" Shadow jumped forward and started trying to move the chunks of marble, hoping deeply that he didn't find a flatten hedgehog underneath it all. "Omega! Rouge! Help me out here!"_

"_Why-help-Mephiles?" Omega drawled in his monotonous voice. "After-all-his-deception… Why-help-him?"_

"_I don't know! But is it right to just leave him here if he's still alive?!"_

"…"

_Rouge stepped forward and placed a hand on Shadow's shoulder, easing her other hand under the same chunk he has both of his under._

"_Say when…"_

"… _When?"_

_The both of them pushed it aside as Omega decided to join in, lifting a heavier one out of the way. _

…

…

"But, Rouge said you dug Mephiles out on your own…" Mephiles interrupted.

"Give me a minute. I'm getting to that…"

…

…

_After a half a minute, they found his foot, which twitched slightly, giving a sign that he was still alive… if only barely._

_They quickened their excavation, and within seconds, they uncovered his half conscious, dust and sand covered, bruised and broken body. He was clutching his arm tightly, murmuring unintelligibly as he coughed, perhaps from the pain, sand and dust. _

_Most obviously, his arm and leg was broken, and he was bleeding from the most severely injured places, most notably his head, which was sporting a very nasty looking bruise, which was beginning to darken, showing that it stretched across the side of his head to his forehead. His muzzle was now sickly pale, and his half closed eyes didn't seem to see that they were really there at all._

"_Mephiles?" Shadow touched a hand to his shoulder carefully, not wanting to shake him in case that worsened his injuries. _

"………"

"_Mephiles? Can you hear me?"_

"………"

"_We need to get him some help…" Shadow said, looking up. "At how he is now… he could very well die within the hour…"_

"_Shadow. Why-help-him? He-tried-to-turn-us-against-each-other…" Omega said._

"_Because… It just feels wrong to just leave him here…" Truthfully, Shadow couldn't for the life of himself answer that for himself. Why was he wanting to help Mephiles, who had tried to deceive him, turn him against his friends and overall… had really wanted Shadow dead?_

_Looking down at the severely injured demon at his feet, he thought perhaps that it must have been because he could now see that Mephiles wasn't as powerful as he thought he was. _

_That… and that Mephiles had been injured because he had been too busy tracking Shadow and because Shadow got out of the way fast enough without giving a warning._

_Shadow carefully picked him up, trying to be careful not to agitate Mephiles' injuries. _

_Sadly, Mephiles' widened and he tensed up. The sound he was making sounded like he was trying not to scream. _

_Then, with perhaps more warning than they thought… he fainted._

…

…

"And then what happened?" Mephiles urged, shifting against the straps. "Oh… and is there anyway I could be set free from this? It's kinda uncomfortable..."

"Well, it was only there because you were flailing too much…"

"Am I flailing now? Just let me go if that's okay…"

"Well… they did say that if you seemed okay later that it was alright… so I don't see why not…" Shadow set him free and Mephiles immediately scratched behind his ear, letting is eyes drift shut for a moment.

"That was starting to drive me crazy…" He muttered. "Anyway… do continue…"

…

…

_Westopolis was closer to Dusty Desert than Soleanna, so therefore, he was taken to a hospital there in the time it took for Shadow to muster up a Chaos Control powerful enough to teleport the four of them. There he was treated, bones being done up splints and casts, lacerations daubed with antibacterial solutions and wrapped up to prevent infection._

_Within hours of admittance, Mephiles woke up just enough to flash anger behind his eyes when he spotted Shadow, only to fall unconscious yet again when he attempted to try to move._

_Little did they know at that time that that would be the last they would see of Mephiles before he had been… for lack of a better term… replaced._

_It took Mephiles months before his fractures had healed completely, during the whole time he was in a trance of some sort, which was occasionally broken at the sound of his name._

_On the fifth month of visiting, Shadow and Rouge learned that Mephiles' mind had been affected by the impact, believing himself to be Shadow and asking repeatedly to see Rouge._

"_Perhaps it's best that you shouldn't go in…" The doctor advised Shadow, who was peering through the small window in the door, watching Mephiles, who had his eyes shut in thought, rocking is head slowly from side to side as he sat up, fingers drumming the bed in a slow tempo. "If he thinks he's you, and ends up seeing you… that might cause conflict…"_

"_But you're letting Rouge see him…"_

"_It's his request…"_

_Shadow watched as Rouge entered the room slowly, Mephiles' ears perking up and if he was capable of doing it… Shadow was sure he was grinning._

_Unable to hear the sounds in the room, Shadow could only guess what was being said as Mephiles hopped off of the bed excitedly and in a split second, the double had wrapped his arms around her tightly, his tail wagging as he continued to greet Rouge, who was slightly tense, and could only return his gestures hesitantly, patting him on the head._

_Mephiles never caught on and in a few seconds, he pulled her over to a chair, he himself sitting on the bed and began talking excitedly about things that only the two of them knew about, Rouge nodding and forcing a smile. _

_This went on for a couple of hours, Shadow having to leave the window several times to sit down, before he saw that Mephiles was giving her a goodbye hug, and was waving excitedly as she made her leave. _

_Shadow got out of the way of the door just as Rouge exited, her expression greatly saddened._

"_What did he say?" Shadow urged, wanting to know had happened._

"_He really thinks he's you… when he was talking… it was his voice… but he was talking like you…" She said slowly, not taking her eyes off of the floor. "He wants to know what happened to him and how long until he can leave… He thinks 'Mephiles' died after the accident… what are we supposed to tell him?"_

"_This wasn't supposed to happen… I thought he'd get out of the way fast enough… but it was like he never saw it coming…"_

"_He didn't…" Rouge looked up. "I saw it. He was to busy watching where you were going that he didn't know what else was going on. And after you punched him… he looked that was slowing him down a bit…"_

"_This is my fault…" _

"_Shadow… you couldn't have known that would happen…"_

"_That doesn't change the fact that it _did _happen… And now look!" Shadow gestured to the door, which they could see through the window that Mephiles was humming to himself as he tugged at his patient bracelet, not bothering to read the name that had been put on it. "He doesn't even know he's not who he thinks he is!" _

"_Maybe this is temporary… and he'll get better…" Rouge added hopefully. _

"_But if he goes back to normal… then what? We'd have to take him to GUN since he was part of the artifact that we were sent to retrieve anyway! Either way, this isn't good."_

"_Let's just let this play through and see what happens. Maybe it won't have to be like this…"_

_Shadow reluctantly agreed and the two left for the day, returning every day for the next month, Shadow remaining behind the door, straining his ears to hear, Rouge leaving the door open just a crack to left their voices drift through._

"_Hey there, M-_Shadow…_" She said, catching herself before Mephiles could. She held up a bear she had brought for him as a gift, smiling slightly. "I figured that your room lacked anything that was really welcoming… so I got you something…"_

_The bear was a blue-green one, as if to match Mephiles' markings, which Mephiles didn't notice._

…

…

"So that's how I got that bear…" Mephiles looked at the bear on the nightstand, who seemed to be smiling warmly with its stitched mouth.

"Would you quit interrupting me?"

"Sorry…"

…

…

"_Aw! It's so cute!" He grabbed it and hugged it. "So… how much longer until I can go back home? I can't wait to get my hoveskates back on and race Sonic… I'm sure he's been going nuts without someone to match his speed…"_

"_I'm sure he is…" Rouge said slowly._

_Mephiles frowned._

"_What's wrong? You look like something is upsetting you…" He said, leaning forward to stare at her._

"… _It's nothing…"_

"… _Whatever it is… don't worry… I'm okay… so if it's about me… don't worry…"_

"_I'll keep that in mind…" She said grimly, getting up to leave. "I'll see you later…"_

"_Hey! Wait! Why such a short visit this time?" Mephiles followed after her. "Don't leave yet… I-"_

_He stopped when he had tried to follow her to the door, Shadow having not disappeared behind the door fast enough._

_For a horrible minute, Mephiles stared at Shadow in shock, his eyes getting as big as they could._

"… _Wh-what-? H-how… _wh-who?_" He stammered, at a total loss for words. He then looked like he was about to faint. "… Wh-who are you?"_

_Shadow gasped. He wasn't supposed to have been seen by Mephiles. What was he supposed to say?_

"… _I'm… Shadow…" _

"… _No…" Mephiles shook his head frantically, taking a step back as he pointed a finger accusingly at Shadow. "NO! _I'M_ SHADOW! _FAKER!_ YOU'RE A FAKE!"_

"… _No… you… you're Mephiles…" Shadow said before he could stop himself. "You were in an accident about six months ago, and you lost your memory…"_

"_LIES! MEPHILES IS DEAD!"_

"_Mephiles…" Shadow said, but Mephiles jumped at him, slamming him and pinning him to the ground, raising his hand to hit him._

"_DON'T CALL ME THAT! HOW _DARE _YOU?! WHO ARE YOU!?" Mephiles roared, punching his fist into Shadow's face. Shadow winced and reached a hand up to grab his wrist. "LET ME GO! UNHAND ME!"_

_Rouge had left to get a nurse or something to try to restrain Mephiles, who was throwing wild hits at Shadow in a rage._

_Shadow pushed him off and pinned him to the ground, Mephiles screaming and writhing against his restraint._

"_WHAT'S GOING ON!? WHO IS HE? LET ME GO!" Mephiles bellowed at the top of his voice, struggling as much as he could. _

_Shadow felt himself get pried off of him carefully, and pulled away as the medical officials caught Mephiles by the wrists and ankles, one of them holding his arm steady as another injected a sedative into his body._

_Slowly, Mephiles began to quiet down, now thrashing more weakly as it started to take effect. _

"… _Who is he..? I'm Shadow… not him… not him… not…" Mephiles fell limp, breathing peacefully as if he was just asleep. A doctor looked up at Shadow._

"_He wasn't supposed to see you…"_

"_I know… I wasn't able to hide fast enough…" Shadow explained. "I'm sorry…"_

"_It wasn't Shadow's fault… Mephiles tried to follow me…" Rouge helped, then looked at Shadow. "Are you okay? There's a bruise on your cheek…"_

_Shadow touched his hand to it and winced. _

"_Mephiles punched me a few times before you got him to calm down…" He frowned. "Is he going to be okay? What's this going to do to him?"_

"_I don't know… but for now… he should be asleep…" A doctor explained as Mephiles was carried back to his bed. Mephiles groaned and rolled onto his side, whispering something that couldn't be heard._

…

…

"And after that, we left for home… and later that night they gave us a call that you had escaped when you woke up. You were out for three days before we found you and brought you back here…"

"And that would have been when I thought I was you, and that my reflection was Mephiles…" Mephiles said, piecing it together. "So… you helped Mephiles because you felt like this was your fault… and that's why I'm here?"

"Pretty much…"

Mephiles sighed. It had been such a long story. Then he looked up, an idea striking his mind.

"Get me a mirror…" He said simply.

"What?"

"I want to check something… Get me a mirror…"

"But, you still can't recognize yourself…"

"I don't care… get me a mirror…"

Shadow remembered that a hand mirror had been put face down in a drawer on the bedside table, so he reached in to get it and handed it to Mephiles, who had his eyes closed.

Mephiles hesitated, and opened his eyes slowly, staring into the green eyes that stared back.

For the longest time, he said nothing as his eyes scanned the edges of his upturned quills, nearly identical to Shadow's, save for their markings.

"Mephiles?"

A single tear slipped down his face before a flood of them streaked down his pale muzzle.

"Meph?"

His muzzle lifted up at the sides as if he was smiling, his body shuddering with joy as something clicked in his brain, the back of his hand wiping his eyes.

"… T-that's me… That's me!"

"What?"

"That person in the mirror! That's _me!_"

"Oh, my- Say that again!"

"That's me! I'm Mephiles!" He threw his head back and laughed the hardest he could ever remember ever doing so. "I'm _Mephiles!_ I _know_ who that is! I _know!_"

Rouge woke up at the sound of this, just in time to hear the announcement.

Mephiles saw her and jumped off of the bed, grabbing her by the hand to bring her to her feet and twirl her around, forgetting his dignity as he laughed happily, lost in his moment.

"I'm Mephiles! _Mephiles the Dark! _I'm back! I'm _back! _Thank you!_ Oh, thank you!_"

Shadow was grinning broadly for him, glad to have been able to help someone who was once his enemy.

As for Mephiles' fate once his memories began to return… well… we'll leave it up to you to decide…

* * *

I figured that this needed a happy ending... :D

As a side note... I really had a problem with writing how Mephiles got buried... actually, I would haveh ad a problem if it was anyone... it just seems too painful to have even thought about it have happening... but I needed a reason for how Mephiles got hurt...

So what do you think? Will Mephiles be locked away for having his memories return... or will he be given a second chance? Feel free to give you own little ending to that if you want :D


End file.
